Me and Mike was laughing back there earlier this morning. I was trying to find, they said, you got to put a title in for your sermon. And I was trying to think of one. And I put in The Pursuit of Joy, but in the wrong places. And I started thinking about that song, Looking for Love, and all the wrong places. It's all going to go back to you. I guess it doesn't hang on me. Anyways, now that I've distracted you, Ecclesiastes chapter two, if you want to turn there. Now, we were in Ecclesiastes chapter one last week, but I don't know that I'll make it all the way. I have it set in my mind to go all the way through the book of Ecclesiastes, but I wanted to preach these messages. This is what I've got laid on my heart. We've been talking about idolatry and how the world is an idol. And honestly, after last week, I'm surprised to see most of you back. It's hard to sit for an hour and listen to a man tell you that your life is quickly vanishing and no matter what you do or how hard you work, you can't stop what's coming. I know it's hard. There's a day when our body will return to the dust If you remember, we read those scriptures and your soul will return to God and Gabriel. That's not a message people want to hear. But the goal of that message was to help us see through the lies of the world. That's the goal. There's an illusion out there that somehow, someway we'll live on forever and ever in this world. But we've got to bring the day of our death to the present moment. I want us to consider that day, the day that we die, because that day is the one thing you and I can be certain of. You can't be certain that when you go get in the car after church that you will get home. You can't be certain tonight when you go to bed that you'll wake up the next morning. But what you can be certain of is that one day you'll die. That's a certainty that we saw last week in the scripture. And that truth should change the way we live today. Amen. That should change the way we live. And so the words of the preacher, as it says in Ecclesiastes, he calls himself the preacher. He says, he asked this question. And if you remember the question from last week, he said, what does a person gain? What does it profit a man for all of his labor and toll? In other words, what does a person gain from all of their work and the toll they do in this world. And that's what we've looked to understand last week. And we saw that the world is set on a cycle. It just repeats itself over and over again. There's nothing new in this world. The sun rises. The sun sets, the water flows into the sea from the rivers. It evaporates and it rains and it starts in the rivers again. The wind blows in a circuit, the Bible says, and returns from where it started and repeats itself over again. And we enter into that world and we work and we toll and we convince ourselves that somehow we'll fix it. Somehow we'll do something that will be the exception to the rule. It'll be different for us. The end result will be different than what it has been for everybody else. But hopefully, the answer last week was clear. It won't be different for us. It'll be the same. This is the point of Ecclesiastes chapter one that I wanted you to see. Your labor, your work, your toll in this world, your time in this world is just a vapor. That's all it is. Your life will be just a vapor, just like the people's lives before you were. You'll die. And in a short time, you won't even be remembered. But there's a reason that I want us to see that. There's a reason. It's not just to make us depressed or to beat us down. Listen, there's something that's so important about death. If we come to grips with our mortality, then I believe we can find true joy in the life that God has given to us. I wanna show you where to find that joy this morning. I don't know that I'll do it well or right, but you pray for me this morning. As a matter of fact, let's just go to the Lord together in prayer. Father, thank you so much, God, that we get to be together this morning. God, thank you, Lord, for the songs that were sung, God, for the worship, God, that was put forth, God, and the hands that were raised, and the rejoicing, God, and the thankfulness, God, we're just so grateful today, Lord. We're thankful, God, for every family and person that's represented, God, in the building this morning, but God, we desire deeply for you to speak to us this morning from your word, God. We want to hear from heaven, God. We want to hear truth, God. We want our hearts to receive it. I pray, God, that it would be planted in good ground, Father, ground that would bring forth much fruit, Lord. God, I just pray this morning, God, you give us ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the church, God, and Lord, I pray for the lost, God, that you would work in their hearts and convict them of sin, God, help them to see, Lord, your great love, Lord, the sacrifice you made for them, God, and that they can be saved. Lord, I'm thankful, God, for every member that's here, God, every visitor, Lord, every person that's in this place this morning. God, I believe you have ordain those things, God. I believe that you knew who would be here, God. And I'm grateful this morning, Father, for you, Lord. I'm just praying, God, that you'll use me, God, as a vessel, Lord, as a mouthpiece. I'm not worthy to be used. I'm the least, God, I know that. But Father, I pray, Lord, that you would help me, God, to be able to speak your word this morning, God, in boldness and truth. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. There isn't any of us who's not trying to maximize their joy in this life. No matter where you go in the world, I've got to travel some for work and different things. No matter where you go in the world, no matter how rich or poor a country is, the people are in pursuit of joy. They want happiness. They're working hard to find a way to be better off. Get more satisfaction. And listen, if we'll admit it this morning, we have to admit we're in pursuit of joy too. Everybody wants to maximize their gain. Everybody wants to get the most of their time under the sun. Everybody wants to experience the most joy that they possibly can, amen? Nobody in here doesn't want to. And when we look in Ecclesiastes chapter two, I want us to begin by looking at the pursuit of joy from the wrong places. We're trying to find joy. I'll summarize it like this. We're trying to find joy from gain. We think that there's joy to be had through possessing and receiving and achieving and all those things. And that's what I want us to, to realize, as we read these verses, as we look at these verses, let's ask ourselves, can I really find joy through gain? Can I really find joy? Listen, don't read yourself out of the text. Because this is the life that most people are living today. What we're going to read here in Ecclesiastes is the life that most people, almost everyone, including most of us, have spent our lives in pursuit of gain. Believing that the more we get out of this life, the more we get in this life, the more pleasure we'll get to experience and the happier we'll be. That's what we've been taught. That's what we've been told. That's what we believe. And listen, this is just another illusion that the world tries to get us to believe. It's another form of deception. Get more, have more, chase more, pursue greater, bigger, better. The more you get, the happier you'll be. Let's see if it's true as we read from the man who had more than we'll ever have. Who got more than we'll ever get. And let's see what he found. Ecclesiastes chapter two, verses one through 11. I said in my heart, Come now, I'll test you with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure. But surely this also was vanity. Remember last week I told you vanity means breath or vapor. I said of laughter, madness. And of mirth, what does it accomplish? I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine while guiding my heart with wisdom. how to lay hold on folly till I might see what was good for the sons of men to do under heaven all the days of their lives. I made my works great, I built myself houses, I planted myself vineyards, I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. I made myself water pools from which to water the growing trees of the grove. I acquired male and female servants. And I had servants born in my house. Yes, I had greater possessions of herds and flocks than all those who were in Jerusalem before me. I also gathered for myself silver and gold and the special treasures of kings and of provinces. I acquired male and female singers, the delights of the sons of men, and musical instruments of all kinds. So I became great and excelled more than all those who were before me in Jerusalem. Also, my wisdom remained with me. Whatever my eyes desired, I did not keep from them. I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure. for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was my reward from all my labor. And then I looked on all the works that my hands had done, and on all the labor in which I had told, and indeed, all was vanity, and grasping for the wind, there was no profit under the sun. Solomon, he had decided to test his heart. He wanted to know what would satisfy What would bring it the most joy? What would maximize his happiness in this world? So he tries to pursue certain things. Back in verse one, he says, I'll test it with mirth. He says, I'm gonna find a way to maximize my joy and I think I can do this by enjoying these forms of pleasure. Now the word mirth there in verse one, it's referencing amusements or entertainment. That's what that word means. And so he says here in verse one, he says, I think, that if I will just entertain myself and amuse myself through entertainment, that I can maximize my joy. I'm gonna test my heart in that. Do we sometimes look to that? Do we not think to ourselves at times, listen, I'm not preaching at you. I'm preaching for you and I'm preaching to me. Do we not think to ourselves, Gosh, wouldn't life be better if we wasn't so busy? Amen, I think that all the time. I just wanna go home and read my book. I just wanna go home and sit down on the couch and watch YouTube. I just wanna watch this show or this book. I just wanna have some time to play that video game or whatever it is. I just want to amuse myself and be a little bit entertained. I think I could be happier if I had that time. So Solomon does this. And what does he find? He finds that it's all a vapor. It's all short lived and it accomplished nothing. It didn't work. It didn't satisfy him for long. It didn't do what he hoped it would do. So he goes on. In verse three, he says, how about wine? I'll try to get some pleasure from alcohol. I know so many people who think this way. They live to get to the bar after work. They can't wait to get home and pour themselves a glass of wine or a glass of whiskey. You go to the gas station anytime about the time that work is over, you go to the grocery store, you'll see them in line. They were there yesterday. The day before that, they got their 12 pack for the night under their arm. I see them all the time. You see them all the time. They're ready to go home. They're ready to relax after a hard day's work. You see, they're searching for joy. They're searching for pleasure. They're in pursuit of comfort. They're in pursuit of relaxation, of happiness. And they think they're gonna find it. It's gotta be in alcohol, right? It's gotta be there. After all, when I drink it, it makes me feel good. But guess what? Its effects are temporary. And when it fades, the sun rises the next morning and they gotta go back to that job that they don't like. They've got to go back and do the work that they wish they didn't have to do, and the cycle will repeat itself over again, over and over and over. All those pursuits are just a vapor. The happiness that came from them was short-lived at best. When the book was finished, life was the same. When the show was over, life was the same. When the movie ended, life was the same. When they turned off the video game, it was all the same. When the alcohol wore off, life was the same. They gained nothing. They're still headed for death. Death's still coming, like a freight train. So those things didn't work. What else can we pursue? Let's see what Solomon does next. You and I read it together already. He goes after it harder now in verses four through 10. He starts to really set his mind to the work and he starts to build. In verses four through six, he builds houses for himself. Big house with a vineyard and a garden and an orchard running through the property that waters all the trees and all those things. That should do it, right? Don't we think that to ourselves? If I just work hard enough and get a good big house, if I can get that piece of property that I always wanted, my life will be better. I'll maximize my pleasure. I'll have what I wanted. I'll be satisfied. If I can just gain those things. Don't we pursue that? Oh, I pursued it. Listen, I didn't understand anything. When I got out of high school, I was an idiot. I'm not kidding. I expected to start where my mom and dad were after years of working. I couldn't understand why I couldn't start there. But I was broke as a joke. Didn't have anything. And thought to myself, now the only way I'm ever gonna be happy is if I get there. But if I can get those things, if I can get that home, I can remember the first years of our marriage. Shasta and I talked all the time. I said, we got to get a house. We got to get a house. We got to get a house. And I just pushed, pushed, pushed. Work, work, work. Get all you can get. You know, work yourself to death to make that more money to get those things. So we can have those things that we thought we wanted. Listen to verse seven. He hired all kinds of people to take care of it. You have to. I'll get that big house with that big yard, and while I'm working to pay for it, I'll pay somebody else to come mow it. Huh? And that big house that we live in, I'll have to pay somebody else to clean it. I'm never in it. I'm at work all the time trying to pay for it. So he hired himself, he had servants of all kinds. But I'll get those toys that I wanna, I'll get that nice car and that big truck, and I'll pay for somebody to come over and detail that thing ever so often. I'll work and I'll get these things, it'll definitely make me happy. It's gonna satisfy me. If you've ever bought a new car, you know how long that lasts. About two weeks in, it's old. And you still got five years. That's the truth. Look what he does in verse eight. He starts to build. Well, you know, I mean, he already had it, obviously. But he said, he said, I had all this silver and all this. Do we not try to do the same thing? I'm gonna get me a great job, I'm gonna get that promotion, I'm gonna make the most money I can make, I'm gonna save up my money, and the richer I get, the happier I'll be. Look at verse 19, he does it. He said, whatever my eyes desired, I had. He gets what he wants. All the pleasures he wanted, he was able to buy them, get them. And he looks at all of it and he says, look at what I've got. This is my reward. Look at all these things. We do the same thing. We work hard. There's nothing wrong. There's no sin in working hard. It's a good thing. We build that house. We buy that property. We get those nice vehicles. We hire that mow boy and clean in person. We build wealth, and we get those promotions, and we make those investments, and we make good money, and our retirement looks good, and our savings account looks good, and we get everything built up, and we got all that money. Now look at verse 11. Once he has it, he looks at all that he's done, all the hard work, and he says there was no gain. Wait a minute, how can he say there's no gain? He's got houses, orchards, vineyards, servants, He's got wealth, silver and gold laid up, but he looks at it all and he says, it's just a vapor. It's grasping the wind. There was no real lasting joy to be found in those things. The happiness they gave him, it didn't last. He actually gained nothing from it. And I know I'm boring you this morning a little bit, but just hang with me. Let's look at verses 12 through 14. We didn't read that earlier, but we'll read it now. Then I turned myself to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can the man do who succeeds the king? Only what he's already done. Then I saw that wisdom excels folly, as light excels darkness. The wise man's eyes are in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I myself perceive that the same event happens to them all. He's saying, even though I tried to be wise and build up my life and get all these great things and build all this wealth and experience all these wonderful pleasures, he realizes in the end, the fool and the wise man both experienced the same event. Verses 15 and 16. So I said in my heart, as it happens to the fool, it also happens to me. And why was I then more wise? Then I said in my heart, this also is vanity, it's a vapor. For there's no remembrance of, there's no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool. Since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come, and how does a wise man die? Just like the fool. Both the wise man and the fool die And this is the reality of life in this world. You can work hard, you can get a lot of stuff, you can get a lot of wealth, you can have all the things in the world, but in the end, you leave with none of it. Amen? And what is conclusion? Look at verse 17. Probably about some of y'all are thinking, I hate life. At least this part right now, right? I hate life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. It was all vanity. It's all a vapor. It was grasping for the wind. Then I hated all my labor in which I told under the sun, I must leave it to the man who'll come after me. And who knows whether he'll be wise or a fool, yet he will rule over all my labor in which I told, in which I have shown myself wise under the sun. This also is vanity. Therefore I turned my heart and despaired of all the labor in which I told unto the Son. For there is a man whose labor is with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, yet he must leave his heritage to a man who has not labored for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. For what has man for all of his labor and for all the striving of his heart with which he's told unto the Son? For all his days are sorrowful, his work burdensome, Even in the night, his heart takes no rest, this also is a canopy. Man, here's the point. You can spend your life in pursuit of these things. You can lay hold of a lot of these things, and you can even hold them for a little while. But in the end, they're a vapor. And see, this is what most people are doing today. They live their life in pursuit of the things of this world. Deep down, they hope and pray that these things will bring them joy, that it'll satisfy them, that it'll fulfill them. So they work and they talk and they chase. But in the end, it slips through their fingers. They expect more from these things than what they're able to give. These things are not evil of themselves, but they're distractions. That's all they really are. See them in truth this morning. See the world for what it is this morning. That big house, that money in the bank, that car, that truck, that property, it can't change what's coming. We fill our lives with the pursuit of these things, distracting ourselves from the reality That death is coming and judgment follows. That our bodies are going to be dust and our soul is going back to God. This is not just the ramblings from some preacher. This is the truth of God. Listen to what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12, verses 13 through 21. There were some brothers having a bit of a dispute over the inheritance of their father as families. Isn't that a sad indication? A man will die, a woman will die, and the children will divide. over some money and a house that none of them really want anyways. It's a truth. It's a truth. These brothers were there and one of them from the crowd said to him, he said, teacher, tell my brother to divide that inheritance with me. One got it all and one wanted some. But Jesus said to him, man, Who made me a judge or an arbitrator over you? And he said to them, listen to the message he gives. Take heed and beware of covetousness. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. Do you know that this morning? Then he spoke a parable and he said this to them. The ground of a certain rich man yielded plenty. And he thought within himself saying, what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops? So he said, I'll do this. I'll pull down my barns and I'll build greater barns. And there I'll store up all my crops and my goods. And I'll say this to my soul. I'll say, soul, you've got many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said to him, Now focus. This night, your soul will be required of you. Then whose things? Then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God. This is the testimony that most of us have in our day and time. Sadly, this is the testimony of most professing Christians. We live in a world of distractions. We've allowed ourselves to become distracted by them. And we're laying up treasures upon the earth and we're hoping to find joy in those treasures and we're neglecting the eternal heavenly treasures. But we're robbing ourselves of the gift of life that God wants to give to his children. There is life in Christ. Listen, if you don't have Christ, I want you to hear this this morning. If you're in here or you're listening and you don't have Christ, you don't have life. You may be alive, you may have breath, you may be able to walk and move and think, but you don't have life. Christ come that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Most Christians today don't get to experience it. Most Christians today miss out on it, just like Israel missed out on the promised land. Remember we read that a couple of weeks back, how they couldn't have the promised land, but because of their idolatry, they never made it. And so we miss out on the many blessings of God in this life. I want you to know, Christians, listen, I know sometimes it don't sound like it by the way I preach, but I believe there is joy in this life for a Christian. I don't believe it is the only joy that we have, and I don't believe it is the best joy. I believe that the most joy lies in eternity. But I still believe there is joy to be had in this life. But I believe we miss out so much on that joy because we spend our time just like they did going in circles in the wilderness of this world. We're like a rat on a wheel. And we won't allow ourselves to be satisfied by the simple goodness of God. See, as Christians, we have Everything we need to be joyful. Everything we need to be happy. Everything we need to be satisfied. We have the best of anything anybody's ever had. We have fellowship with God through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And it never gets any better than that. You can have all the money, you can have the finest You can own all, you can have all of Dickinson County. You can go to every auction and get every piece of property. You can have it all. And it would not come close to what it means to have Christ. And to have salvation. And to have God. And we've got it all. We've got the goodness of God. with God, but see, we have to have more. And that's how we end up robbing ourselves of the gift of life in Christ. Christ come to set us free. Free from sin, free from the world. Who is he that overcomes the world? He who has faith in Jesus Christ, amen? Christ come to set us free. He said, those that I set free, those that I make free, they're free indeed. We have this freedom in Christ to live a simple, peaceful, contented life. a life of dependency upon God, a life of trusting God, a life of... That's what Matthew 6 is all about when he says, you don't have to be anxious for everything. You don't have to have everything the Gentiles have. You don't have to want everything the world wants. You've got me. You've got me. I'll take care of you. I'll give you all that you need. There's a life out there for us, a simple, peaceful life filled with thanksgiving and praise and joy. But our endless pursuit for more is keeping us from true joy. It's not that God doesn't want us to experience pleasure. He does. But what God knows, and we seem to struggle to figure out, is that you'll never get true pleasure or satisfaction from the world. You'll only get it from Him. He's the source. But the pursuit for more gain is destroying our lives. Listen to 1 Timothy 6, verses 6 through 10. Here's nobody's favorite scriptures. Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it's, look at the word, certain that we can carry nothing out. Having food and clothing with these, we shall be content. How many of us are? Careful when you raise your hand this morning, amen? You better be on your A game. Those who desire to be rich, look at what it says. Now, every one of us grew up with the desire to be rich. None of us didn't want to be. Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil for which some have strayed from the faith even straight from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Isn't that something? What about Hebrews 13, five? Hebrews 13, five says, let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Proverbs 23, four and five, listen to these verses. Do not overwork to be rich. Because of your own understanding, cease. Will you set your eyes on that which is not? Let me tell you what riches do. Here's what the Bible says. For riches certainly make themselves wings and they fly away like an eagle towards heaven. That's what it does. You think you got them, and you don't. We're in pursuit of joy, but we're looking in the wrong places. We're not seeing it the right way. Let's look at the pursuit of joy from a different perspective. If you want real, lasting joy, be patient with me. I know I've been up a while, but just hang with me. I don't have a lot more to go. If you want real, lasting joy, you've got to learn to seek first the kingdom of God. You've got to get an eternal mindset. You've got to seek the things which are above, amen? Listen to Colossians chapter three, verses one through three. If then you were raised with Christ, and if you're a professing Christian, that is your profession. Seek those things which are above, where Christ is. Where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on those things above, not on things of the earth. For you died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. All you professing Christians in here this morning, have you died? Have you died? Have you let go of the world and the things of this world? Have you let go of the illusion that the things of this world will bring you any lasting joy that they can satisfy or fulfill you? Have you been raised with Christ? Have you been crucified with Christ? Have you died to this world? Are you still trying to hold on to this world? See, I think there are a lot of professing Christians today trying to hold on to the world. They still believe that there's something to gain in this world. I find myself trying to hold on to it. I'm not making myself the exception this morning. I'm not the exception. We have a hard time coming to the realization that there's nothing in this world of any real significance. And this is what keeps us from fully surrendering to Christ and fully surrendering to the will of God for our lives. We're afraid we're gonna miss out on something, something this world has to offer. But listen, brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, we need to understand this world can promise you a lot of things, but it can give you nothing. It can give you nothing that will provide you a lasting joy. Joy comes from knowing Christ. Joy comes from the Holy Spirit. That is the fruit of the Spirit, joy. Joy comes from fellowship with God. That is true joy. In Luke 9-24, Jesus tells us very plainly, if anybody wants to save his life, he's got to lose it. But today's Christians don't want to lose it. They want to have both. You can't. If you want to save your life, lose it. If you want to lose your life, you'll save it. You see what I'm saying? I want you to understand the significance of what I'm teaching. Don't let me confuse you. If you want life, life in Christ, true life, the life that he gives, you've got to be willing to lay down this life. I read to you from 1 Timothy 6 to verse 10, but let me read verses 11 and 12. You wanna know what you should be pursuing? Pursue the greater treasures. Listen to what he says, but you, O man of God, you people of God, flee these things. Flee the pursuit of money. Flee the pursuit of all those things. And he said, instead, pursue righteousness. Pursue godliness. Pursue faith and love and patience and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. That's what we should be doing. Seeking God, seeking his kingdom, pursuing righteousness, pursuing godliness, pursuing faith, love, patience, and gentleness. We should be in pursuit of eternal things. We should surrender our lives to Christ fully, letting go of the illusion that the things of this world can somehow satisfy us. I beg you this morning, church, if you're not fully surrendered to Christ, if you're living a distracted life in pursuit of the wrong things, repent and turn from it. We are run ragged in the pursuit of things that don't matter. We're running ragged in the pursuit of things that can't satisfy. And we're doing it with all of our heart and with all of our mind because somehow, some way, the world has convinced us that there's something to be had. There's not. Listen, if you're in Christ, you have the best. Just have peace. Be content with such things as you have. Just trust in God. Listen, you say, well, Bill, I'll tell you what I'm gonna do. I'm calling the boss as soon as I leave. I'll quit. You better want to anyways. Amen. I'm not saying you've got to quit your job. I'm not saying you've got to sell your house. I'm not saying you've got to sell your cars. All I'm saying is you've got to come to the realization that living for anything other than Christ is vanity. It's meaningless. This life and all the things in this life, they're a vapor. When you look at that car, you see a vapor. Look at it and see that warm breath on a cold morning. It's there and then it's gone. When you go home, and listen, when you go home and look at your house today, you pull in the driveway, instead of saying, man, I wish this house was this, and this house was that, and I wish neither, how about say this, God, thank you so much for this house to live in. Amen? And be peaceful and content. Listen, I need to do that. I need to do that. In Christ, listen, there are riches untold. Amen? The things of this world won't last. Don't let them become your priority. Don't let them. Don't let them distract you from the thing that really matters. Don't let the things of this world pull your heart away from Christ. They will. They will, they'll keep you so busy that you don't have time for the simple blessings that God has given you. Listen, I've seen it over and over again. I've lived it. I'm not being mean to nobody. I don't want nobody to think I'm talking about them specifically. I'm not. But I have seen the busyness of life in my own life and in some of your lives and in other people's lives. I've seen that busyness rob people of the relationship with other Christians. They can't spend no time with anybody. They don't have time to. I've seen them be robbed of prayer time. I've seen them, they never get to study. And even when they have a few spare minutes, they're like most of everybody else in the world, some of us included, addicted to entertainment. So when you got 10 minutes, you can't resist from picking up your phone Scrolling to find out what everybody else in the world is doing, how satisfied they are with their things that won't last. And I want you to know they're just pretending. That's all they're doing. They're just pretending to be happy so that you'll like them. Just be honest. There's so much better things. Don't be like the rich man who looked out at his barn and said, man, I'm so blessed. I know what I'll do. I'll just keep storing up for me. I'll just keep building up meat. Be like John the Baptist who said, he must increase, I must decrease. Trust God. We sang this morning, trust and obey. You want to live a life that you'll enjoy. You want to find true satisfaction. Stop reading these scriptures and ignoring them. And start reading the living God. Amen. You'll find that it's in here. The path to the abundant life that Christ promised is right here in the pages of the book. Just do what he says. Live what he says. Live for Christ. Amen. I'll close with this. If you're here this morning and you're not a Christian, you've not been born again by the spirit of God, you've not surrendered your life to Christ, you've not followed him, I want you to know that one day your soul will be required of you. No matter how rich you become, no matter how big of a house you own or how much you own or how much you gain in this life, one day, you're going to leave all of it and stand before your creator and face the judgment. And friend, on that day, just as we read, you came into this world naked, you're gonna leave it the same. And on that day, you'll stand before God. And none of this stuff will matter. What will matter is whether or not you were in Christ. That'll be what matters. And you better heed the warning this morning. Death is sure, judgment is coming, and you better get ready to meet the Lord. Well, what do I need to do, preacher? Repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn from your sins, turn to the Savior. Believe the gospel, believe the truth that you're a sinner in need of salvation, that Christ is the son of God, that he was crucified over your sins. He took your sins upon himself. He became the sacrifice for your sins. Through his blood, your sins can be washed away. You can receive forgiveness this very morning. You can become a new creation in Christ Jesus this very day, this very moment. You can become new in Christ. God can do it. You can be justified in the sight of God. You can be filled with the Spirit of God. Christ has made the way. Travis read and he said, Thomas said, how do we know the way? He said, Thomas, I am the way. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and you can come to the Father through him. You can be saved from a day of judgment. You can be saved from the penalty of your sin. You can be saved from bondage to this world. You can be set free this morning, free in Christ Jesus. The good news of the gospel is this. All this, we've been talking about this death and how it's coming after all of us. Death in Christ has been defeated. Christ is victorious over death, hell and the grave. Christ has defeated those things. Christ has risen from the dead. That is the hope that Christians have. Christ is risen from the dead. He has, in Revelation, he says about himself, he says, I am he who was dead and is alive evermore. And I have the keys of death and hell. I am Alpha and Omega. I am the beginning and the end. I am the first and the last. This is the very truth of God. This is what Jesus said. You can believe it, you can take it to the bank. He said this, he said, I will give eternal life to all who will believe. If you'll receive it, this is what he says in John 1 12, but as many as received it, to them he gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in his name. That can be you today. If you want true joy this morning, you gotta come to the source. You gotta come to the fountain. As Jenny's saying, you gotta come to the well. Amen? You gotta leave it all behind and come. Jesus Christ is the only one who will satisfy you. The things of this world, the pursuits of this world, they're gonna leave you empty. You're not gonna lay on your deathbed and look back and say, man oh man, I sure am glad I chased all those things. because they won't matter. That's why I want to bring the day of death to the very forefront of your mind this morning. I want you to think about the day that you're taking your last breath. I want you to consider that for a moment. The day that you're really truly taking in your last breath and your eyes are looking around, will you be worried about how big your house was? Will you be thinking about how much money that you make? Will you be worried about what your title is at work? Will you be worried about if the yard is mowed? Will you be worried about all these other things? Will you sit around on that day when you're trying to gasp for that last breath and think, I wonder what kind of car they're gonna drive me in to the graveyard? Think of how foolish some of these things are. Remember a while back I gave you an example, it was a foolish one, but I gave you the example of somebody dying in a hospital bed, and I come in and I say, I'm talking about they're in their last minutes, and I come in and I say, I got you a gift. Here, I bought you a book to read. Who would want that? Nobody's gonna care. You're not going to care. This is what it means to have an eternal mindset. You've got to start thinking like you're taking that last breath now. And it'll change the way you live. All of a sudden, all the things you're chasing after now won't seem quite as important. You don't know when that last breath is, neither do I. But we know for certain it's coming, amen? I pray you'll consider your soul this morning. One day your soul will be required of you. Don't be like the foolish man. Be rich towards God this morning. Trust in Christ, receive the gift of eternal life. If there's anybody in here this morning that's lost, anybody at all, that wants salvation, what a good day it would be to give your life to Christ. Start right now and say, I want to go all in. I want to lay it all in on that altar. All my sins I want to put on him and I want his righteousness so that I can have life and have it more abundantly. But if you're a Christian this morning and you've been pursuing some of the wrong things, I want you to know the altar is open to you this morning as well. If you want to turn and say, you know what, I get caught up, listen, I'll be the first one to tell you. I'll find my way to the altar this morning. Because I know that I have let myself become distracted in the pursuit of things that don't matter. And if you have to, come pray and say, God, help us. Help me to turn from that. Help me to turn. We can't do it without God. We can't do it without his help. I'll say this too, this morning, before we get down and pray together. If you're here this morning and maybe you say, well, I don't know if I need that message, but maybe there's other needs in your life. Things that we didn't preach about today or talk about. But you want to come pray, the altar's open to you too. Anybody's welcome to come pray about anything that they have going on or any need that they might have. But we're going to go together. If you want to remain standing, you can. If you want to sit, you can. Whatever's most comfortable to you, but we're going to pray. I'm going to ask if you wouldn't mind to have Brother Ricky.